customContents

entityId

entityUuid

articlePageQuery

filter

article

articleBaseAdvertisingInfoArticle

articleListArticle

articleSeoArticle

helpersCheckIsPostiesArticle

hooksArticleAcknowledgementGateOverlayArticle

hooksTrackPageViewArticle

hooksContentInterestArticle

articleLinkingDataContent

articleSchemaContent

liveArticle

advertZone

sentiment

contentLock

topics

types

sections

moreOnThisArticles

urlAlias

commentCount

sponsorType

authorLocations

authors

paywallTypes

corrections

displaySlideShow

multimediaEmbed

printHeadline

seriesContainer

socialHeadline

headline

flag

firstTopic

glossary

flattenTypeIds

publishedDate

additionalInfoBoxes

images

image

relatedLinks

relatedNewsletters

__typename

createdDate

sponsor

factSheets

series

knowledgeQuestion

disableOffPlatformContent

published

updatedDate

summary

subHeadline

body

keywords

copyrighted

customTimezone

liveContents

Agence France-Presse

A new military recruit shot and killed two fellow soldiers and wounded a third at a training range in central Japan on Wednesday, the military said, with the 18-year-old suspect detained at the scene.
“During a live-bullet exercise as part of new personnel training, one Self-Defence Forces candidate fired at three personnel,” the Ground Self-Defence Force (GSDF), Japan’s army, said in a statement.
The shooter was an 18-year-old SDF candidate who joined the military in April, GSDF chief of staff Yasunori Morishita told reporters, adding he was detained on the spot by other soldiers.
“This kind of incident is absolutely unforgivable for an organisation tasked with handling weapons, and I take it very seriously,” Morishita said.

He said the three victims had been tasked with training new recruits, including the attacker, at the range, without further elaborating on their relations.
The suspect, whose identity is being withheld for now, has been charged with the attempted murder of a 25-year-old soldier, a local police spokesman said, declining to be identified.
The cadet “fired a rifle at the victim with the intent to kill”, the spokesman said.
National broadcaster NHK reported the casualties were a man in his fifties and two other men in their twenties.
‘I killed her because I wanted to’: suspect in Japan knife attack arrested
Details of the casualties’ identities have yet to be officially confirmed.
Aerial footage broadcast by the station showed military and civilians gathered around an emergency vehicle and police blocking nearby roads. Some appeared to be investigators, wearing covers over their shoes and hair.
A local resident told NHK he saw several emergency vehicles rushing to the area at around 9:30am local time but had not heard anything before that.
Morishita said as far as he is aware, gun violence by GSDF personnel that resulted in injuries or fatalities last took place in 1984 at a camp in Yamaguchi.


<![CDATA[// ><!]]>

The training range near Gifu is administered by the region’s Camp Moriyama and is a covered facility of more than 65,000 square metres.
Gun possession tightly controlled in Japan, where violent crime is rare.
But several high-profile incidents have rattled the country over the last year.
In July 2022, former prime minister Shinzo Abe was shot dead on the campaign trail by a man who allegedly targeted him over his links to the Unification Church.
The accused assassin, Tetsuya Yamagami, was due to make his first appearance in court this week, but the session was cancelled after a package sent to the facility set off a metal detector.


It was later found to contain no explosives, but rather a petition signed by thousands calling for a lenient sentence for Yamagami.
He has garnered surprise sympathy from some quarters over the effect his mother’s devotion to the Unification Church had on his family and childhood.
In April, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida escaped unharmed after a man threw an explosive device towards him at a campaign event.
That incident came shortly before Japan hosted the Group of Seven leaders’ summit in Hiroshima and prompted renewed calls for stepped-up security.
Attack on Japan’s Kishida shows ‘lessons of Abe’s assassination not learned’
Thousands of police were deployed to secure the gathering, which passed without a security incident.
Last month, police in Nagano region west of Tokyo detained a man after an hours-long knife and shooting rampage, followed by an extended stand-off.
The man killed four people, including two police officers, before he was detained. He is reportedly the son of the speaker of the local city assembly.

‘A better bet’: Asia backs Kamala Harris over more Trump turmoil in US presidential race

Hong Kong to seek more information before it considers easing ban on Japanese seafood imports

China faces calls for transparency after latest stabbing attack sparks safety fears

BMW, GM, Toyota lose more market share in China as transition to EVs hurt deliveries

Japan

Japan army recruit kills 2, wounds 1 after opening fire on soldiers at training range

Soldiers from Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force take part in a military review. The 18-year-old shooter has been charged with the attempted murder of a 25-year-old soldier, a local police spokesman said. Photo: AFP

Soldiers from Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force take part in a military review. The 18-year-old behind Wednesday’s fatal shooting has been charged with the attempted murder of a 25-year-old soldier, a local police spokesman said. Photo: AFP

Japanese Self-Defence Force troops gather near a facility at the base firing range in Gifu, central Japan, on Wednesday. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

Japan’s armed forces to rethink tattoo ban in bid to attract young recruits amid low birth rate

Japan’s Ground Self-Defence Force during a live-fire exercise in Gotemba, southwest of Tokyo. Photo: Pool via AP

Participants with traditional Japanese tattoos (Irezumi), related to the yakuza, walk through the Asakusa district during the annual Sanja Matsuri festival in Tokyo in May 2018. Photo: AFP

The Miyakojima sub base of the Japan Air Self-Defence Force in Miyakojima, Okinawa prefecture, southern Japan. Photo: Kyodo News via AP

Japanese tattoo artist Horiai works on a customer during a tattoo convention. Photo: Bruce Yan

Massive 700kg ‘ice’ haul spotlights Japanese yakuza links with Chinese gangsters

Japanese police have arrested seven Chinese nationals over a 700kg haul of crystal methamphetamine. Photo: Shutterstock

Yakuza gang members during the Sanja Matsuri Festival. Photo: Shutterstock

Japan’s PM says population crisis is an ‘emergency’, so why is he holding back funding?

Japan’s PM Fumio Kishida said that providing support for families to have children was his government’s “most important policy”. Photo: AP

There were 124.49 million Japanese in 2022, a decline of 556,000 from 2021 and down from a peak of 128 million in 2017. Photo: AFP

Japan’s growing problem with ‘trash homes’ prompts questions about lack of social support

A trash home in Yokohama, Japan. Photo: Julian Ryall

’Gomi-yashiki’ are Japan’s serial hoarders. Photo: Handout

Japan society ‘needs to change’ so hikikomori will feel welcome again, experts say

Government studies and surveys show that there are an estimated 1.1 million hikikomori across Japan. Photo: Shutterstock

A woman walks along an empty street in Kyoto, Japan. Government studies and surveys show that there are an estimated 1.1 million hikikomori across Japan. Photo: Getty Images

A solution is urgently needed for Japan’s “80-50 problem”, where elderly parents in their 80s care for hikikomori in their 50s. Photo: EPA-EFE

News

Asia

East Asia

Police said the shooter, an 18-year-old new recruit, was detained on the spot and had been charged with attempted murder
He opened fire on his fellow troops during a live-bullet exercise in Gifu prefecture as part of new personnel training, Japan’s military said


Police said the shooter, an 18-year-old new recruit, was detained on the spot and had been charged with attempted murder.


Crime

Defence

Shinzo Abe assassination

Japan army recruit kills 2, wounds 1 after opening fire on soldiers at training range

Police said the shooter, an 18-year-old new recruit, was detained on the spot and had been charged with attempted murder He opened fire on his fellow troops during a live-bullet exercise in Gifu prefecture as part of new personnel training, Japan’s military said

Police said the shooter, an 18-year-old new recruit, was detained on the spot and had been charged with attempted murder

He opened fire on his fellow troops during a live-bullet exercise in Gifu prefecture as part of new personnel training, Japan’s military said